Conveyor belts sometimes include rollers that extend beyond at least the top surface of the belt. With such rollers, objects conveyed by the belt can be diverted from the belt by driving the rollers in a chosen direction.
Conveyor belts of the type described above typically comprise modular belt body sections that are linked together and that support the rollers. For example, one body section can be provided for each row of rollers that extends across a width direction of the belt. Such body sections laterally surround their rollers such that a portion of the section, for example a length of plastic or metal, is positioned between each adjacent roller across the width of the belt. Although providing a viable means for supporting the rollers and providing structure to the belt, the body sections occupy space in the width direction of the belt and therefore limit the roller density that can be achieved. In other words, the presence of the body section lengths that lie between the rollers limits the extent to which the space between each adjacent roller can be minimized.